


Revenge is a Dish Best Served With Snakes

by FeoplePeel



Series: Harry Potter Daily Prompts [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Even Harry can be a sadistic bastard, Gen, Parseltongue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-27
Updated: 2012-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-31 20:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/347892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeoplePeel/pseuds/FeoplePeel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt 020 - Harry crosses paths with Umbridge in Diagon Alley.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revenge is a Dish Best Served With Snakes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Secrets](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/7027) by Vorabiza. 



> Harry has nightmares of Dolores Umbridge. Dolores Umbridge is living a nightmare.
> 
> Although the use of the snakes is my own, the idea of them is not. They are featured as both friend and weapon in a thoroughly entertaining Draco/Harry fanfiction by Vorabiza called 'Secrets'.

The cage contained four brightly-colored snakes. Azure, emerald, scarlet, and gold. Harry examined them through the glass. It was only landing his job at the Ministry had convinced him to enter Magical Menagerie, four years after Hedwig's death. He couldn't bring himself to look at the owls yet, but the snakes, dosed in the familiar colors of his Hogwarts home, immediately drew his attention.

He stared, intently, at the green one, closest to the glass and wide awake. A flurry of thoughts rushed to the front of his mind and he spoke in a series of hisses.

But that was all they were.

Even Harry could hear them for what they sounded like now. There was a part of him that could jumble together the noises from his memory, but he could no longer understand. He wondered if they were even words to the snakes. Parseltongue was just another something to make him feel different, special. He never thought he'd miss it.

The green snake raised it's head and crawled up the glass.

*****

Fifteen minutes later, he walked down Diagon Alley, the colors of Hogwarts decorating his shoulders and arms in long, hissing shapes. The snakes earned him a few stares but, upon the realisation of who wielded them, any naysayers quickly averted their gaze and went about their business. He bent to inspect a model for the new broomstick coming next month, and the snakes protested the movement. He heard a commotion farther down the street. Looking up, he saw why.

Being pushed out of Madam Malkin's was a large woman in muted pinks.

He still had nightmares about her. The pink witch with the black heart. Long after Voldemort had gone, that scar had stayed.

The shopkeeper was yelling directly into the face of Dolores Umbridge. Her eyes were directly on Harry. They were defiant, but he could see the fear, there. It was familiar to him, now, after the war trials. Death Eaters who stared back with young eyes, full of rage or sadness but always, always was the fear. Somehow Dolores Umbridge had gotten away.

Harry sat across from her at The Leaky Cauldron, following this line of inquiry. "My friends are dead. And you're still here. Can you tell me why that is?"

"My mother always said I was born under a lucky sign." The snakes hiss at her from their coil in Harry's lap and her facial muscles contract. "You're not like him." She motions towards the shopkeeper. Harry had brought both of them here to calm down. "You could kill me, right now, and no one could stop you."

"I could. I'm strong enough to stop myself." Harry knew. He was doing it right now. "My friends died for something, Umbridge. You think I'll give you the satisfaction of doing me in? Sorry, no chance."

The woman's face was pinched in steady defiance.

"You know what I think? And remember," Harry leaned in to whisper, "I mustn't tell lies." He slid his hand, the one with the writing, into hers and looked into her face. Harry didn't know what she saw, then, but any trace of defiance left her face in a wash of pale. She tried to pull away, but he yanked her closer, leaning in roughly and using her hand for leverage. "I think you're going to die alone and miserable. More miserable than mad Bellatrix Lestrange or even Tom Riddle, who lived a life without love. You're going to be a bitter, stale corpse that won't even lend itself to tragedy because no one but me will ever know." The golden snake slithered out and Harry was brought back to his senses. He let go of her hand and stood to leave, arranging the snakes back around his shoulders. "I could go with the more noble reason of why I won't kill you, now or ever. Something about you're not worth it or you've been punished enough. But we both know that's not true. I will _enjoy_ seeing you live like this, Dolores. Goodbye."

As Harry was leaving, a small voice hiccuped, "I-I can _change_."

Harry's smile was sadistic. "No. You _won't_."


End file.
